Is selling property always difficult?

westernpromise

I've sold four properties over the last 30 years and only one of them was easy to shift.

1988: 2-year-old new build 3-bed house in the Midlands. I paid £25.5k, valued at £41k, sold for £46.5k - many bids received.

1999: 11-year-old 1-bed church hall conversion in London. I'd paid £85k in 1988, offered at £115k, took about 4 months to get £105k.

2011: 16-year-old 2-bed conversion in London. Paid £77k in 1995, took about 8 months to get £367k.

2013: 17-year-old studio in Docklands. Bought for £66k in 1996, offered at £220k in 2012, failed to sell, let for a year then sold for £190k in 2013.

Unless the market's obviously fizzing it always seems to take ages. Alll the above prices were in line with what else was selling locally. It was just that there seems to be a shortage of buyers even in London and even ~20 years ago.

economic

it took me 9 months to sell my flat in kilburn. it was probably the best flat for its price range. it was under offer during the btl tax hike frenzy last year. so yes when there is a frenzy is when it will get snapped up quick. thats the best time to sell.

chucknorris

westernpromise wrote: »

I've sold four properties over the last 30 years and only one of them was easy to shift.

1988: 2-year-old new build 3-bed house in the Midlands. I paid £25.5k, valued at £41k, sold for £46.5k - many bids received.

1999: 11-year-old 1-bed church hall conversion in London. I'd paid £85k in 1988, offered at £115k, took about 4 months to get £105k.

2011: 16-year-old 2-bed conversion in London. Paid £77k in 1995, took about 8 months to get £367k.

2013: 17-year-old studio in Docklands. Bought for £66k in 1996, offered at £220k in 2012, failed to sell, let for a year then sold for £190k in 2013.

Unless the market's obviously fizzing it always seems to take ages. Alll the above prices were in line with what else was selling locally. It was just that there seems to be a shortage of buyers even in London and even ~20 years ago.

I've sold 4 and my wife has sold 1, 4 of them dragged a bit:

1991: sold 2 bed bungalow in Newcastle for £51.5k (bought for £24k in 1989) took about 9 months to sell.

1997: sold 3 bed house in Tooting for £132k (bought for £68k in 1993) took about 1 month to sell.

2003: sold 3 bed house in Balham for £375k (bought for £133k in 1991) took about 5 months to sell.

2017: sold 2 bed flat in Battersea for £440k (bought in 1999 for £84k) took about 5 months to sell.

2017: my wife sold 4 bed house in Hackney for just over £1m (bought for £110k in 1997) took about 7 months to sell.

Unless the market is booming, in future, I will allow about 5 to 8 months for selling.

kabayiri

A neighbour put his detached property on the market last year on the Tuesday (mid-afternoon).

Next morning he finds a hand written letter posted through his door from a lady saying she would buy it for the asking, and when could she move in !

He just found it amusing that she didn't even want to look around, and at least have a good nosey at the showcase kitchen.

(She didn't need to. She gutted the kitchen within weeks of moving in.)

chucknorris

kabayiri wrote: »

A neighbour put his detached property on the market last year on the Tuesday (mid-afternoon).

Next morning he finds a hand written letter posted through his door from a lady saying she would buy it for the asking, and when could she move in !

He just found it amusing that she didn't even want to look around, and at least have a good nosey at the showcase kitchen.

(She didn't need to. She gutted the kitchen within weeks of moving in.)

We are waiting to buy (upsize our home) and we have targeted a a few streets (one street in particular is our favorite) where we know we would buy, the difficulty is if something comes up that is quite good but not absolutely ideal. On one hand we want to move into a much nicer property than our own ASAP, but on the other hand we also want to hang on for the perfect (for us) home. We are cash buyers so unless someone else also absolutely loves the property we will be hard to beat.

kabayiri

chucknorris wrote: »

We are waiting to buy (upsize our home) and we have targeted a a few streets (one street in particular is our favorite) where we know we would buy, the difficulty is if something comes up that is quite good but not absolutely ideal. On one hand we want to move into a much nicer property than our own ASAP, but on the other hand we also want to hang on for the perfect (for us) home. We are cash buyers so unless someone else also absolutely loves the property we will be hard to beat.

Do you think we should change our nature in the UK, and be much more proactive in approaching home owners whose houses aren't on the market yet?

Our friends got a fantastic house purely down to some idle chatter on the golf course. I'm not saying I like that sort of club mentality, but I have to admit it happens.

Ray_Singh-Blue

I have sold 5 properties, all with a minimum of fuss, and think the key is actually in the buying.

When you buy something which is attractive, spacious enough, in a good location, and with broad appeal then you are probably going to be able to sell it on when the time comes.

economic

Ray_Singh-Blue wrote: »

I have sold 5 properties, all with a minimum of fuss, and think the key is actually in the buying.

When you buy something which is attractive, spacious enough, in a good location, and with broad appeal then you are probably going to be able to sell it on when the time comes.

agree. however it is usually very difficult to tick all the boxes. specially in london, there is almost always a sacrifice to be made unless you have millions.

Malthusian

Houses in the area I bought in always sell less than a week after they go on the market. Though it took a year for the sale to actually go through due to chain issues. So my anecdata says no to the headline question.

kabayiri wrote: »

Do you think we should change our nature in the UK, and be much more proactive in approaching home owners whose houses aren't on the market yet?

"We" as in you and I or "we" as in everyone in the UK? My mother did exactly this - went round the area she wanted to buy in and put letters underneath people's doors asking whether they would consider selling. One of them hadn't put their house on the market but they were thinking about it, and my mother's letter was enough to push them into selling it to her. A lovely house it was too.

So yes, if you're the kind of proactive person who would do this, it's a good idea. On the other hand, if everyone did this whenever they wanted a house, we would be constantly deluged by annoying letters, and no-one would get their house this way because we'd throw all the letters in the bin. So I wouldn't agree that people in general should do it more often.

kabayiri

Malthusian wrote: »

...

So yes, if you're the kind of proactive person who would do this, it's a good idea. On the other hand, if everyone did this whenever they wanted a house, we would be constantly deluged by annoying letters, and no-one would get their house this way because we'd throw all the letters in the bin. So I wouldn't agree that people in general should do it more often.

Maybe...or if some entrepreneurial types spotted that people were trying to be more proactive they might step in with web sites which supported this in a more structured approach.

(I doubt it would happen anyway. I think typical British reserve would see to that)

chucknorris

kabayiri wrote: »

Do you think we should change our nature in the UK, and be much more proactive in approaching home owners whose houses aren't on the market yet?

Our friends got a fantastic house purely down to some idle chatter on the golf course. I'm not saying I like that sort of club mentality, but I have to admit it happens.

The trouble is that it lets them know that you are really keen.